What is gravity – simply put…
What is gravity and how does it work?! That is a great question – and you’re likely standing or sitting at the moment – therefor proving to yourself that it exists!
The basics… what is gravity
Most people probably think of gravity as what holds them down on the ground, or something that causes items to fall to the next available surface, and therefor is of great significance to their lives. This is why an alternate use of the word gravity is to mean of great importance or seriousness.
In reality – gravity is actually the force of attraction of two things toward one another. This actually makes quite a lot of sense when you consider the fact that the earth is round. If everything were to truly be pulled downward we would all be on one level surface. Luckily, since everything on earth is actually pulled in towards the center of the earth life can exist all around the globe, and each one of us feels upright despite potentially being at 180 degree diference.
How strong is gravity?
Gravitational force is actually determined by a formula that involves the size or mass of both objects that are being pulled together. Did you know: your weight it actually measured with the force of gravity pulling down on you in mind!?!?
How do you measure gravity?
Gravity can be determined with the formula f=ma. F is the force pushing on an object and takes into account both the mass of and object (or person) and the acceleration at which it is being pushed or pulled (whihc can vary depending on where the object or person is in the universe). For simplicity sake, we are going to take about the force of gravity created on the earth’s surface. The acceleration of gravity is approximately 9.1meters per second squared on earth.
Therefore to get the force of gravity for any given object on earth you would plug in its mass under “m” and multiply by “a”, which in this case is 9.8m/s2.
https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/question232.htm
https://www.britannica.com/science/gravity-physics
